I’m glad most don’t have meal service in the continent, save for maybe 1st class. I’d rather save the money they surely overcharge you for that rubber ass chicken breast and plain canned veg. Rather be hungry for my next destination so I can enjoy the cuisine there.
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You guys are grossing me out.
I’ve been making this in my cold brew coffee press. I drink it unadulterated over ice. Love the faintly chocolate taste.
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This is slightly OT, but I hope it is not too irritating. Coffees in SE Asia, in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia tastes different than the coffees served in other countries I travel in. The Vietnamese coffees served with the steel “tea pots” over a single cup with condensed milk at the bottom (usually with a tall glass of ice to pour the cupful over) are some of my favorite coffees anywhere and Thai Ice Coffees (again frequently made with condensed milk) are outstanding. But they do not taste like coffees served anywhere else in the world that I have traveled. I do not think it is the condensed milk that changes the coffee flavor profile because they serve it without condensed milk and it still has that different flavor.
Given the different flavor profile, and the amount of Robusta beans produced in each country, I have wondered if the coffees I like the best there are actually Robusta, not Arabica. The baristas claim it is Arabica every time, but it used to be that 90%+ of Thailand’s coffee was Robusta, not Arabica. Those numbers are harder to find now, but it looks like it is still 75%+ Robusta. The numbers were similar in Vietnam, I believe, but I can no longer find the references. Are the farmers moving more and more to Arabica? Or are they still producing a lot of Robusta beans?
Is there a store bought coffee from SE Asia that is Robusta that I could try?
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Yes to your comments about robusta. A year or two ago I recall reading about how Robusta was seeing a resurgence - it wasn’t this but along these lines:
I used to love Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk but can’t do the sugar any more. I was happy to find out that unadulterated, the coffee is great (at least in cold form).
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Thank you for that article! I have been vindicated! LOL!
Seriously, the parts about Italy leading the way on Robusta and Illy messing things up struck a chord. I have been intrigued by SE Asian Robusta cofffees for years and have had little luck finding any in my travels.
And do not get me started on bitter Starbucks French roasts…
I am going back to Thailand in a couple months and have been thinking about going to Lampang to check out the Thai coffees in a non-touristy town. Well, it was the food I was mostly thinking about but coffee too.
Sorry for the thread-drift!
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Mine, too, but I haven’t found a place stateside that does a good one since my favorite V restaurant closed
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I’ve noticed that coffee candy made in Thailand and Vietnam have that chocolate note. Haven’t had a cup since I lived in the city. The condensed milk really works with it, too. A friend of mine adopted a child from Ethiopia and brought me a bag of their coffee. Not chocolaty, but a hard to describe depth that I haven’t tasted since. I call the flavor “abiss.” Not like dark roast dark, just a deep dark flavor profile. When I ran out I needed consoling, and beer.
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Does it have a chalky mouthfeel?
I’m currently paying $16.99 CAD for a pound of locally roasted Las Chicas del Café coffee at my local grocery stores.
I also have some Kickinghorse
Three Sisters (the famous 3 mountains near Canmore, Alberta)
on hand , which was on sale for $9.99 CAD/ half pound.
I also have a can of Balzac’s Farmers Blend on hand, which cost around $17.99 CAD/ lb, on sale.
Nabob, Maxwell House, Van Houtte, and Melita would be cheaper than the 3 smaller Canadian brands I mentioned above.
My local indie coffee shops charge between $20 CAD and $28 CAD/ lb.
It’ll be interesting to chart the price of coffee this year.
I buy Illy ground, which is sold in 250 g/8.8 oz cans. Instacart says local groceries are selling it from $13.99 to $17.99 a can. Although some of these prices could be higher than “in-store” because that’s what Instacart and the grocers generally do. I’ve never seen it at anything over $15.99 physically in a store. Actually I just checked the Wegman’s app, and their price was $.50 cheaper than Instacart’s quote for Wegman’s.
Illy on its website charges $14.99.
I’ve bought it considerably cheaper on Amazon. My last order was $10.99. The least I’ve ever paid from Amazon is $9.71 back in November. The most I’ve ever paid from Amazon is $11.64. I suspect everyone will raise prices now regardless of whether there’s a shortage or a tariff; that’s how it usually rolls.
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Not about the coffee, but about the packaging: are the foil wrappers for brick coffee recyclable as metal or do they have something that prevents that?
And the answer seems to be that they have a plastic coating that means it cannot be recycled. 
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